To an Unknown British Soldier

[BeppoSapone]

Here are some apt words for the coming Sunday. Can anyone tell me who wrote them?

To an Unknown British Soldier

We shall not stay to see the peace we won,

Nor watch the world grow clean again from war;

Find no forgetfullness of things we saw,

In careless freedom under England's sun

Let not the living mock the price we paid,

Or bring dishonour on our half-done task;

Hold not from us the only gift we ask -

Assurance that the dead be not betrayed.

When others feel the joy of lover's kiss

Or gaze in gladness on the springtime flowers,

Or hear the children laugh in playtime hours,

We shall not grudge the happiness we miss.

But let no hatred wake us from our peace,

We gave our lives that enmity might cease.

[BeppoSapone]

Here are some apt words for the coming Sunday. Can anyone tell me who wrote them?

To an Unknown British Soldier

We shall not stay to see the peace we won,

Nor watch the world grow clean again from war;

Find no forgetfullness of things we saw,

In careless freedom under England's sun

Let not the living mock the price we paid,

Or bring dishonour on our half-done task;

Hold not from us the only gift we ask -

Assurance that the dead be not betrayed.

When others feel the joy of lover's kiss

Or gaze in gladness on the springtime flowers,

Or hear the children laugh in playtime hours,

We shall not grudge the happiness we miss.

But let no hatred wake us from our peace,

We gave our lives that enmity might cease.

On the subject of poetry. At 4.30 on Sunday afternoon, 9th November, Radio 4 have a programme on Keith Douglas, the WW2 poet killed in Normandy.

[BeppoSapone]

Here are some apt words for the coming Sunday. Can anyone tell me who wrote them?

To an Unknown British Soldier

We shall not stay to see the peace we won,

Nor watch the world grow clean again from war;

Find no forgetfullness of things we saw,

In careless freedom under England's sun

Let not the living mock the price we paid,

Or bring dishonour on our half-done task;

Hold not from us the only gift we ask -

Assurance that the dead be not betrayed.

When others feel the joy of lover's kiss

Or gaze in gladness on the springtime flowers,

Or hear the children laugh in playtime hours,

We shall not grudge the happiness we miss.

But let no hatred wake us from our peace,

We gave our lives that enmity might cease.

As there has been a deafening silence on this question, and because this poem should be at the top of the topics today of all days, here is the answer.

During WW2 a series of poetry competitions were organized in the 8th Army by the Army Educational Corps.

Seventy-Two poems, written in Sicily and Italy between July 1943 and March 1944, were published with an introduction by Siegfried Sassoon.

That's the background. The individual poem "To an Unknown British Soldier" was written by a Lieutenant M J Disney. Of Disney I know nothing, other than he seems to have survived the war, as he does not appear on the CWGC Register.